0 




The  Miami 
Bulletin 


ANNUAL 

COMMENCEMENT 

ORATION 

MIAMI  UNIVERSTIY 

Nineteen  Hundred  and  Four 


Press  of  The  Republican  Publishing  Co.,  Hamilton,  Ohio. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/orationdeliveredOOwell 


Zhc  fllMami  Bulletin 


SERIES  III  OCTOBER  1904  NUMBER  2 


PUBLISHED  MONTHLY  BY  MIAMI  UNIVERSITY  AND  ENTERED  AT  THE  POST- 
OFFICE  OXFORD,  OHIO,  AS  SECOND-CLASS  MAIL  MATTER. 


ORATION 

Delivered  before  the  class  o f 
Nineteen  Hundred  and  Four, 
Miami  University,  Oxford,  Ohio, 
Commencement  Day,  June  Six- 
teenth, in  Bishop  Chapel,  Ten 
o’clock  A.  M. 

By 

HON.  WALTER  WELLMAN 

Of  Washington,  D.  C. 


Oration  by 

HON.  WALTER  WELLMAN 
Of  Washington  D.  C. 


Mr.  President,  Trustees,  Faculties  and  Members  of  the  Class  of  Nine- 
teen Hundred  and  Four : 

Some  times  I wonder  if  such  young  men  and  young  women  as  I 
see  before  me  today  appreciate  to  the  full  the  opportunity  that  has 
come  into  your  lives — the  opportunity  to  dwell  for  a season  within  the 
the  inspiring  shades  of  this  noble  seat  of  learning,  here  to  have  your 
minds  and  your  characters  furnished  out  with  the  instrumentalities 
of  success.  If  you  do  not,  you  ought.  To  those  of  us  whom  circum- 
stances compelled  to  gain  what  little  early  education  we  had  at  the 
country  schoolhouse — the  country  schoolhouse  of  blessed  memory — 
the  little  red  schoolhouse  at  the  forks  of  the  road,  sitting  back  among 
the  oak  saplings — building  so  diminutive  that  it  was  known  as  the 
“seven  by  nine”  ; seats  and  benches  so  few  and  so  close  together  that 
we  were  packed  in  like  tiny  sardines  in  a tin ; the  four  r’s — readin’, 
‘ritin’,  ‘rithmetic  and  rompin’  for  our  curriculum ; the  road-side  seat 
of  learning  presided  over  by  a gawky  but  earnest  and  ambitious  youth 
from  the  village — who  may  now  be  a Senator  or  Congressman  or  one 
of  your  learned  professors  for  aught  I know — or  by  a sweet,  patient 
— and  we  boys  used  to  think  almost  divine  young  woman  from  the 
adjoining  township — heaven  send  that  her  feet  have  followed  only 
pleasant  paths  through  this  world,  the  paths  of  love  and  peace  and 
children  and  good  works ; the  homely,  humble  district  school  which 
we  youths  of  my  sex  attended  only  in  winter  because  in  summer  we 
had  to  take  up  the  white  boy’s  burden — the  annual  fight  against  the 
weeds  which  persisted  in  pernicious  and  profuse  growth  between  the 
rows  of  corn  or  potatoes,  our  morning  battle  with  the  wood  pile  and 
carrying  in  the  water  for  a dear  mother’s  washing,  the  evening  expe- 
dition after  the  stubborn  and  lazy  cows  which  had  not  sense  enough 
to  come  home  from  the  distant  pasture  till  our  bare  and  very  dirty  feet 
had  encountered  the  bruises  of  stones  and  the  punctures  of  briars — 
forecasts  of  the  way  of  the  world — in  pursuit  of  them  ; the  rough  and 
tumble  country  school  where  not  much  was  done  for  our  manners  but 
a good  deal  for  our  manhood  and  womanhood  and  far  more  for  our 
mentalities  because  we  were  taught  just  enough  to  stimulate  our  appe- 
tite for  more  and  more,  to  give  us  zest  to  go  on  and  on  exploring  the 
chores  were  done  by  the  light  of  the  kerosene  lamp  or  the  tallow  can- 
dle in  the  kitchen  of  the  old  farmhouse;  the  brief  but  inspiring 
glimpse  of  the  great  world  beyond  which  planted  within  some  of  us 
that  best  of  all  gifts  our  alma  mater  may  bestow  upon  us,  no  matter 
how  great  her  dignity  and  complete  her  course — the  eager  mind — 
the  mind  that  is  not  content  with  a little  but  must  have  much — the 
mind  that  knows  no  stopping,  no  sluggishness  till  it  has  gone  out  into 


4 


mysteries  of  the  world  and  of  life  through  borrowed  books  read  after 
the  world  and  tried  its  best  to  dive  to  the  deeps  or  soar  to  the  very 
heights  of  knowledge ; — to  those  of  us  whose  only  diplomas  were 
gained  at  the  age  of  12  or  13  when  our  God-fearing  and  nature- 
embattling  agricultural  fathers  decided  we  were  old  enough  to  stay  at 
home  and  do  regular  work  on  the  farm  and  stop  wasting  our  time 
dawdling  about  in  that  schoolhouse — to  us,  you  and  such  as  you,  sons 
and  daughters  of  splendidly  equipped,  thorough-going  Miami — the 
world  of  the  past  within  easy  reach  of  your  hands  and  the  world  of 
the  future  thus  made  all  the  easier  before  your  feet — seem  like  the 
favorites  of  the  gods,  appointed  to  dwell  in  a veritable  palace  of 
knowledge,  to  learn  amid  a luxury  of  books  and  instructors  and 
example  and  paraphernalia  and  loving  care.  Be  proud,  be  appre- 
ciative, of  the  great  opportunity  the  fates  have  brought  you.  It  is 
a magic  talisman  which  will  strengthen  you  for  the  race  of  life,  as 
those  of  us  who  have  struggled  as  best  we  might  along  the  arduous 
path  without  such  and  aids  know  only  too  well. 

If  I have  learned  anything  in  my  contact  with  the  world,  it  is 
that  the  secret  of  success  lies  in  grasping  the  opportunity  which 
chance  or  fate  or  circumstance  places  within  one’s  reach.  It  is  not  for 
me  to  preach  you  a sermon — to  tell  you  how  you  are  to  make  the  best 
of  the  opportunity  that  lies  before  you  here  or  when  you  go  hence. 
With  all  due  respect  to  our  good  and  faithful  pilots  of  the  pulpit  there 
may  be  such  a thing  as  too  much  preaching.  I know  a great  man — 
the  present  president  of  the  United  States — who  never  makes  an 
address  nor  writes  a letter  that  he  does  not  preach.  If  he  had  not 
been  designed  by  nature  and  by  the  fates  for  great  service  to  the  state 
I fancy  he  would  have  made  a most  excellent  and  assiduous  circuit- 
rider,  an  expositor  of  strenuous  and  perhaps  muscular  Christianity. 
As  Charles  Lamb  said  to  Coleridge  when  Coleridge  asked  aim:  “I 
say,  Lamb,  did  you  ever  hear  me  preach?”  “I  n-never  heard  you  do 
anything  else.”  If  I cannot  point  you  morals  I may  be  able  to  adorn 
for  you  a tale  or  two — tales  from  the  great  world  of  public  life  and 
statesmanship  wherein  I am  an  humble  observer  and  chronicler  for 
the  press. 

We  men  of  the  pen  and  the  wire  who  sit  in  the  watch-towers  at 
the  national  capitol  have  few  virtues.  But  among  thes , are  sincerity 
and  self-reliance.  We  do  not  make  laws  or  politics,  but  we  make — 
and  sometimes  unmake — the  men  who  do  make  them.  We  are  not 
politicians  nor  partisans.  As  to  parties  we  are  impartial.  But  we  do 
not  surrender  the  inalienable  right  of  men  to  have  opinions  and  con- 
victions of  our  own  as  to  the  merits  of  questions  and  as  to  what  is  or 
is  not  good  for  the  country.  As  to  all  which  vitally  concerns  the  pro- 
gress and  the  welfare  of  our  nation  we  claim  and  exercise  the  right 
to  be  neutral  in  nothing,  independent  in  everything.  The  newspaper 
correspondents  at  Washington  are,  for  the  most  part,  men  without  a 
party — but  not  one  of  us — thank  God — is  a man  without  a country. 

Opportunity  comes  to  nations  as  well  as  to  individuals ; happy 
and  fortunate  the  country  which  has  at  its  head  leaders  who  have  the 


5 


courage  to  seize  opportunities  as  they  present  themselves — opportun- 
ities for  advancement  of  the  nation’s  material  interests  and  for  pro- 
moting its  spiritual  progress.  The  day  after  the  recent  revolution  at 
Panama  I was  a caller  at  the  White  House.  For  once  I found  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt  uncommunicative.  He  could  not  discuss  the  event. 
But  he  paraphrased  Shakespeare,  saying : “There  are  turns  in  the  tide 
of  the  affairs  of  men  and  of  nations  which  taken  at  the  flood  lead  on 
to  fortune.”  And  then  he  placed  his  hand  upon  my  shoulder  and  led 
me  over  to  the  wall  of  his  office  and  pointed  to  a little  frame  hanging 
there  above  the  mantel,  a frame  containing  the  pen-written  copy  of  a 
famous  poem,  and  asked  me  if  I had  ever  seen  it  before.  Yes,  I had 
seen  it  before.  I saw  it  first  hanging  in  the  office  of  Theodore  Roose- 
veit  when  he  was  civil  service  commissioner  in  Washington,  enforcing 
the  law  and  quarreling  with  everyone  that  got  in  his  way.  I saw  it 
next  in  his  office  in  New  York  City  when  he  was  police  commissioner, 
again  enforcing  the  law  against  saloon  keepers  and  everyone  else, 
utterly  reckless  of  the  political  consequences.  I saw  it  for  the  third 
time  over  the  desk  which  he  occupied  as  assistant  secretary  of  the 
navy,  from  which  he  sent  the  cablegram  which  ordered  George 
Dewey  to  go  from  Hong  Kong  to  Manila  and  smash  the  Spanish  fleet 
— an  order  which  was  obeyed  and  which  in  an  hour  changed  the  map 
of  the  world  and  brought  this  nation  out  of  its  chrysalis  of  traditional 
escape  of  responsibility  and  blossomed  it  into  full  national  life ; at  this 
desk  Theodore  Roosevelt  resisted  the  almost  tearful  appeals  of  wife 
and  family,  disregarded  the  advice  of  his  closest  friends,  risked  posi- 
tion, fortune  and  life  itself,  and  went  to  the  front  in  the  Spanish  war. 
I saw  that  poem  again  hanging  upon  the  wall  of  the  office  of  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  great  state  of  New  York,  where  Mr.  Roosevelt  so  man- 
aged politics  and  legislation  as  to  mortally  offend  the  big  political 
bosses  and  lead  them,  not  knowing  what  they  did,  to  seek  to  shelve 
him  in  the  vice  presidency.  And  now  I saw  it  finally  nestling  under 
the  portrait  of  Abraham  Lincoln  in  the  office  of  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
head  of  the  greatest  nation — greatest  in  resources,  in  men  and 
women,  in  moral  purpose  and  ethical  ideals,  the  world  ever  saw.  It 
is  only  fair  to  assume  that  this  little  poem  has  excercised  great  influ- 
ence upon  the  character  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  throughout  his  remarkable 
career — that  it  has  been  to  him  a rule  of  action,  an  inspiration,  a guid- 
ing star.  The  title  of  this  sonnet  is  “Oportunity.”  A great,  a preg- 
nant word  is  that,  my  friends — opportunity — opportunity. 

Master  of  human  destinies  am  I. 

Love,  fame  and  fortune  on  my  footsteps  wait. 

Cities  and  fields  I walk.  I penetrate 
Deserts  and  seas  remote.  And  passing  by 
Hovel  and  mart  and  palace,  soon  or  late 
I knock  unbidden  once  at  every  gate. 

If  sleeping,  wake ; if  feasting,  rise 
Before  I turn  away.  It  is  the  hour  of  fate. 

And  they  which  follow  me  reach  every  state 
Mortals  desire ; and  conquer  every  foe,  save  death. 


6 


But  those  who  doubt  or  hesitate, 

Condemned  to  failure,  penury  and  woe, 

Seek  me  in  vain,  and  uselessly  implore. 

I answer  not  and  I return  no  more. 

There  are  in  this  world  opportunities  for  success,  and  opportuni- 
ties for  duty.  The  greatest  man,  the  greatest  people,  is  the  one  that 
seizes  the  latter  as  well  as  the  former.  The  greatest  fact  in  the  world 
of  today  is  that  this  nation  of  ours  marks  the  finest  and  most  perfect 
development  of  civilization — because  it  is  a nation  that  stands  ready 
ever  to  use  its  strength  and  treasure,  not  in  self-seeking,  not  in  mere 
material  greed,  but  in  the  great  works  of  unselfishness. 

Such  an  opportunity  came  when  Cuba  cried  aloud  to  be  redeemed 
from  the  oppression  of  an  incompetent  and  reactionary  ruler.  You 
know  what  followed.  Such  opportunity  came  when  our  representa- 
tives on  the  Paris  Peace  Commission  stood  face  to  face  with  the  pro- 
blem of  the  future  of  the  Philippines.  It  was  a difficult  problem. 
What  should  we  do  with  the  vast  archipelago  which  had  fallen  into 
our  lap  as  a trophy  of  unselfish  war  ? And  here  permit  me  to  reveal 
to  you  a chapter  of  history  as  yet  unwritten. 

The  last  words  which  William  McKinley  spoke  to  Judge  Day 
and  other  American  members  of  the  Paris  Commission  before  they 
sailed  for  the  other  side  were  these : “Don’t  let  them  put  any  islands 
off  upon  you.”  Thus  was  revealed  the  policy  of  our  government  at 
that  hour.  We  did  not  want  the  Philippines.  We  were  not  seeking 
territory,  or  aggrandizement.  There  was  nothing  imperial  in  our 
purpose.  But  what  happened  at  Paris?  Let  me  tell  you  in  the 
words  of  another  great  son  of  Ohio,  Justice  Day.  “When  we  arrived 
at  Paris,”  he  said,  “and  began  our  conferences,  we  had  but  a vague 
idea  of  what  the  Philippines  were.  The  only  map  of  that  region  we 
had  was  one  about  as  large  as  a sheet  of  legal  cap  paper.  Presently 
we  found  one  as  big  as  the  top  of  an  ordinary  desk.  Finally  Admiral 
Bradford  dug  up  somewhere  a map  of  the  archipelago  which  covered 
one  whole  side  of  a room.  That  is  the  way  our  concept  of  the  Philip- 
pines grew  upon  us.  We  discovered  that  instead  of  dealing  with  a 
few  scattered  islands  we  were  arbiters  of  the  fate  of  a great  people. 
After  a time  a Filipino  of  character  and  intelligence  appeared  before 
us.  We  asked  him  if  the  Filipino  people  were  not  ready  to  take  inde  - 
pendence. ‘Yes,’  he  said,  ‘if  we  are  accorded  independence  we  will 
take  it  and  do  the  best  we  can  with  it.’  He  was  not  enthusiastic,  and 
we  asked  him  what  he  meant.  ‘Why/  he  explained,  ‘if  you  give  us 
our  independence  of  course  we  shall  take  it,  but  I’ll  tell  you  what  will 
happen.  Today  you  make  us  a nation  standing  on  our  own  bottom ; 
and  tomorrow  the  navies  of  all  the  world  will  appear  in  the  Bay  of 
Manila/ 

It  is  an  historic  fact  that  if  the  United  States  had  not  taken  the 
Philippines,  Germany  or  some  other  power  would  have  taken  them. 
This  fact  was  decisive.  It  explains  why  the  United  States,  which 
had  set  out  determined  not  to  have  any  islands  put  off  upon  it,  did 
take  more  than  three  thousand  islands  of  the  sea  and  put  then  under 


7 


the  flag  and  started  the  work  of  pacifying  and  civilizing  and  uplifting 
them.  It  was  an  opportunity  to  do  a great  duty  in  the  work  of  the 
world  and  we  seized  the  opportunity.  We  began  that  task  in  the 
spirit  the  head  of  a family  shows  when  he  takes  into  his  house  the 
little  outcast  a storm  or  a battle  sends  him,  and  does  his  duty  by  the 
waif — educating  him,  teaching  him  to  work,  developing  him,  making 
a man  of  him.  How  difficult  the  task  proved  to  be,  and  still  is,  every- 
one knows.  But  the  American  nation  did  not  flinch  from  it  on  that 
account,  and  will  not  flinch  in  the  future.  Probably  no  one  whose 
judgment  is  worth  a rush  will  now  say  that  the  United  States  did  not 
do  the  wise  thing  when  it  accepted  that  responsibility — not  wise 
perhaps  from  the  sordid  point  of  view,  not  wise  as  an  investment — 
but  grandly  wise  was  our  national  instinct  which  made  it  impossible 
for  us  to  shirk  a duty.  The  culmination  of  this  magnificent  episode 
in  the  history  of  nations  and  of  peoples  came  a few  days  ago.  I was 
a guest  with  hundreds  of  other  Americans  at  the  White  House  to 
meet  the  Philippine  commissioners  who  are  now  visiting  in  our 
country.  We  saw  seventy-five  intelligent,  educated  men,  polite, 
accomplished,  well  versed  in  the  history  of  the  world  and  fully 
acquainted  with  all  the  progress  and  spirit,  of  our  times.  To  a man 
they  declared  the  rule  of  the  United  States  in  their  country,  thanks 
to  the  lofty  character  and  devotion  to  duty  of  another  great  son  of 
Ohio,  Governor  Taft,  had  been  of  the  most  beneficent  character.  We 
had  conferred  an  inestimable  blessing  upon  their  people.  We  were 
leading  them  along  the  path  of  true  development.  They  were  grate- 
ful to  us,  and  doubly  grateful  because  we  had  met  our  opportunity  of 
duty  at  Paris  and  had  not  permitted  them  to  drift  within  the  domin- 
ion of  some  truly  imperialistic  power — some  power  that  would  have 
ruled  and  exploited  them  on  a basis  of  pure  and  perhaps  unintelligent 
selfishness. 

Only  five  days  ago  President  Roosevelt  said  to  me : 

“I  believe  every  American,  without  regard  to  his  party  affilia- 
tions, has  the  right  to  feel  proud  of  the  record  his  country  has  made 
in  our  dependent  countries.  We  have  done  nothing  but  try  to  uplift 
them.  We  kept  our  word  in  Cuba,  we  helped  them  with  a new  com- 
mercial arrangement,  we  have  started  them  on  the  right  road.  We 
have  done  the  same  for  Hawaii,  for  Porto  Rico,  for  the  Philippines. 
We  want  all  our  Central  and  South  American  friends  to  feel  that  this 
is  our  watchword,  our  rule  of  action.  We  help,  we  guide,  we  uplift. 
We  seek  no  selfish  opportunity.  I would  sooner  lose  my  right  arm 
than  treat  any  of  our  dependent  peoples,  or  any  of  the  struggling 
countries  to  the  south  of  us,  in  a way  that  would  not  be  in  accord  with 
this  high,  this  ethical,  this  unselfish  standard  we  have  set  for  our- 
selves.” 

And  I say  to  you,  my  friends — I,  an  observer,  one  whose  business 
it  is  to  know  what  is  going  on  in  our  government  both  before  and 
behind  the  scenes — that  this  is  true ; that  we  have  kept  to  our 
ideals ; that  we  are  generous ; that  we  are  just.  Why,  in  the  Phil- 
ippines today  the  great  complaint  made  of  our  government,  by  our 

8 


own  people,  is  that  we  will  not  let  the  traders  and  the  seekers  after 
franchises  and  commercial  opportunities  do  as  they  like,  that  we  are 
too  friendly  to  the  Filipinos  and  too  hard  upon  Americans  who  go 
there  to  make  money.  To  my  mind  this  is  the  fairest  and  brightest 
jewel  in  the  crown  which  our  republic  wears  today  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world. 

One  recent  day  the  Russian  Ambassador  at  Washington — Count 
Cassini — in  a moment  of  pique  due  to  discovery  that  the  sympathy 
of  this  country  is  overwhelmingly  with  little  Japan — exclaimed  that 
the  American  people  are  incapable  of  a chivalric  view  of  any  question 
— “they  are  merely  a race  of  shopkeepers.”  But  Count  Cassini  was 
wrong.  He  does  not  know  the  American  people.  Recent  history 
shows  that  in  justice  and  generosity  to  weak  and  dependent  peoples 
ours  are  the  most  chivalric  people  in  the  world.  One  of  the  most 
beautiful  things  in  all  civilization  today  is  that  this  great  nation,  this 
strongest,  this  most  powerful  nation  on  earth,  is  so  gentle  and  so  just 
in  its  giant’s  strength.  We  had  Cuba,  we  have  the  Philippines,  Porto 
Rico,  Hawaii,  the  Isthmus — but  thank  God  we  have  no  Poland,  no 
Finland,  no  Kischinev. 

I,  for  one,  am  proud  that  where  American  rule  goes  there  is 
always  to  be  found  a government  for  the  good  of  the  governed.  A 
thousand  school  teachers  going  from  the  United  States  to  Cuba, 
American  soldiers  in  the  Philippines  laying  aside  the  rifle  and  the 
bayonet  and  taking  up  the  spelling  book  and  the  reader  before  large 
classes  of  dusky  boys  and  girls  in  the  native  schools — here  is  the 
answer  to  the  charge  that  a republic  cannot  administer  a dependent 
country  without  losing  its  character  and  its  ideals.  Where  we  go  we 
carry  justice  and  education.  Where  our  tax-gatherers  appear,  there 
are  funds  to  be  expended  intelligently  and  honestly  for  the  good  of 
the  people  who  pay  the  taxes,  and  for  nothing  else.  We  levy  no 
tribute.  We  make  no  pastures  of  our  colonies — grazing  grounds  in 
which  to  fatten  our  traders,  reward  our  politicians  and  enrich  our 
elder  sons.  We  sanction  no  rapacity,  no  grinding  of  the  people,  as 
Spain  ground  Cuba  almost  into  the  dust.  Proud  are  we,  as  we  have 
a right  to  be,  that  under  American  control  there  is  none  of  that 
feudal  system  of  robbery  through  the  tax-gatherer  which  has  charac- 
terized imperial  colonialism  through  the  ages  from  the  day  of  Rome 
down  to  the  rule  of  Russia  in  Manchuria.  No  man  in  the  Philip- 
pines or  any  other  country  over  which  floats  our  flag  has  occasion  to 
lament  his  lot  in  the  language  employed  by  the  unfortunate  settler  of 
whom  George  D.  Prentice  wrote : 

His  horse  went  dead  and  his  mule  went  lame, 

And  he  lost  his  cows  in  a poker  game. 

Then  a hurricane  came  on  a summer  day, 

And  blew  the  house  where  he  lived  away. 

And  an  earthquake  came  when  that  was  gone, 

And  swallowed  the  land  the  house  stood  on. 

Then  the  tax  collector,  he  came  round, 

And  charged  him  up  with  the  hole  in  the  ground. 


9 


The  greatest  revolution  going  on  in  the  world  today  is  the  grad- 
ual but  sure  displacement  of  domination  through  force  by  leadership 
through  morality.  There  is  developing  a world  public  opinion — a 
public  opinion  mightier  than  the  most  puissant  navy  or  the  vastest 
army  ever  created — and  in  the  last  analysis  all  mankind  must  bow  . to 
its  edict.  It  is  a world  public  opinion  which  becomes  more  and  more 
ethical,  more  just,  more  generous,  as  the  years  roll  by.  Out  of  the 
contact,  the  intercourse  and  at  times  the  conflicts  of  nations  there  is 
gradually  emerging  the  higher  law — the  law  that  the  general  good  of 
mankind  is  supreme.  To  this  law  all  must  submit.  It  governs 
nations  as  well  as  individuals.  No  nation,  no  government,  no  cor- 
poration, is  strong  enough  or  rich  enough  to  do  altogether  as  it 
likes  with  its  own.  It  is  a law  which  applies  to  the  governors  as 
well  as  to  the  governed.  It  is  a law  which  was  applied  to  Spain,  to 
Columbia,  to  Turkey,  to  Russia,  in  South  Africa  and  which  will  be 
applied  to  Japan,  to  Germany,  to  Great  Britian,  to  the  United  States. 
In  case  need  arises,  it  applies  to  the  strong  as  well  as  to  the  weak. 
And  a part  of  it,  developing  as  it  develops,  is  the  responsibility  of  the 
strong  for  the  welfare  of  the  weak.  That  is  the  responsibility  we 
assumed  in  the  Philippines,  in  Cuba,  in  Porto  Rico,  in  the  Isthmus. 

In  this  magnificent  development  of  the  higher  civilization  the 
United  States  is  playing  a leading  part.  Centuries  ago  the  people 
of  the  old  world  held  to  the  tradition  that  somewhere  in  this  new  con- 
tinent of  the  west  there  existed  a spring  or  fountain  whose  waters 
gave  eternal  youth  to  all  who  drank  of  them.  The  fountain  is  here, 
in  the  figurative  sense. 

It  is  from  our  beloved  country  gushes  forth  the  mightiest  stream 
of  ethical  progress  in  the  world’s  affairs.  We  have  seized  our  oppor- 
tunities. We  freed  the  slaves.  We  have  given  asylum  to  the 
oppressed  and  lowly  of  every  land.  We  rescued  Cuba  and  the  Phil- 
ippines from  the  grasp  of  mediaevalism.  Largely  through  the 
genius  of  one  man — John  Hay — the  foremost  statesman  of  the  world 
in  its  international  relations  today — John  Hay,  of  whom  Presidennt 
McKinley  once  said  to  me — “Hay  is  the  fairest  flower  of  our  civiliza- 
tion. Able,  learned,  experienced,  rich  enough  to  live  where  he 
likes  and  do  what  he  likes,  with  a fondness  for  travel  and  for  art  and 
literature,  he  is  yet  patriotic  enough  to  give  his  great  talents  to  his 
country.”  Through  the  genius  of  this  man,  supported  by  McKinley 
and  Roosevelt,  we  have  made  ourselves  the  leader  of  the  best  states- 
manship of  the  world  in  demanding  the  open  door,  the  equal  commer- 
cial opportunity  for  all  nations  in  China,  and  preservation  of  that 
ancient  empire  from  the  ravages  of  exploiting  imperialism.  We  lead, 
not  through  our  display  or  threat  of  force,  because  all  the  world 
knows  we  shall  not  fight  in  that  cause,  but  through  our  moral  pres- 
tige— and  the  nations  follow. 

At  Washington  it  is  not  a secret — however  it  may  be  elsewhere — 
that  before  little  Japan  threw  down  the  gauntlet  to  mighty  Russia 
she  sat  at  the  feet  of  our  statesmen  and  learned  the  lesson  of  the  new 
idea — acquired  the  principle  of  fair  dealing  and  of  respect  for  the 


10 


rights  of  others.  Before  engaging  in  war  Japan  knew  she  had  the 
moral  support  of  America  and  of  England.  Today  progressive 
Japan,  democratic  Japan,  imbued  by  the  modern  spirit,  is  fighting  the 
battle  of  civilization  against  Russian  absolutism  and  reaction.  I do 
not  hesitate  to  say  that  there  is  a thorough  understanding  between 
Tokio,  London  and  Washington.  This  does  not  mean  that  either 
Great  Britian  or  America  is  likely  to  be  drawn  into  the  struggle.  It 
does  mean  that  they  agree  as  to  what  the  effect  of  the  war  shall  be 
upon  the  progress  of  the  world.  And,  my  friends,  where  the  three 
great  democracies  of  our  times — the  United  States,  England  and 
Japan — stand  together,  there  is  none  to  stand  successfully  against 
them. 

John  Hay  saw  his  opportunity,  and  seized  it.  He  saw  the  Rus- 
sian advance  to  the  Pacific,  the  mighty,  ceaseless  rush  of  the  Cossacks 
that  threatened  in  time  to  bring  all  east  Asia  under  the  dominion  of 
the  Czar,  to  place  one-third  of  the  population  of  the  world  and  nearly 
one-fifth  of  the  arable  surface  of  our  globe  under  the  control  of  an 
aristocratic,  military,  tyrannical  oligarchy  surrounding  the  imperial 
throne  at  St.  Petersburg.  With  clear  mind  he  saw  this  impending 
world-calamity,  this  upsetting  of  the  political  and  industrial  equilib- 
rium by  massing  hundreds  of  millions  of  cheap-working,  low  standard 
of  comfort  people  as  puppets  in  the  hands  of  the  one  great  power 
which  better  represents  the  middle  ages  than  our  own  times — and 
with  consummate  skill  he  rallied  the  moral  sense  and  the  self-inter- 
est of  the  world  with  a phrase,  with  an  idea.  Poet  as  well  as  states- 
man that  he  is,  he  knew  ideas  rule  the  world  and  phrases  are  the  elec- 
trical media  which  carry  them  to  the  auditory  nerves  and  brain  cells 
of  all  Christendom.  So  he  wrote  the  sign — “The  Open  Door — 
Equal  Opportunity — No  destruction  of  the  Chinese  Empire,”  and 
raised  it  aloft.  And  the  better  part  of  the  world  rallied  about  it. 

Then  little  Japan  saw  her  opportunity.  Menaced  by  the  Cossack 
advance,  her  very  existence  threatened,  she  determined  to  have  a set- 
tlement of  war.  There  is  nothing  finer  in  all  history  than  the  manner 
in  which  this  little  David  stood  before  the  huge  Goliath.  To  those  of 
us  who  are  to  some  extent  at  least  behind  the  scenes  in  modern 
diplomacy  the  true  story  of  Japan’s  stand  against  Russia — a story  not 
yet  written — seems  an  epic  that  is  destined  to  live  to  the  end  of  time  in 
song  and  story.  From  it  we  may  gather  lessons  worthy  to  be  written 
in  letters  of  fire  in  our  individual  and  national  code. 

Japan  was  right ; she  stood  on  ethical  ground  ; she  championed  a 
cause  which  thrice  strengthened  her  arm  and  ranged  the  god  of  bat- 
tles on  her  side ; she  raised  aloft  the  banner  of  the  higher  law,  that  of 
the  general  good,  whilst  her  antagonist  represented  the  old 
doctrine  of  material  selfishness,  the  rule  of  force,  the  domination  of 
mere  might  unaccompanied  by  good  works. 

Japan  was  sincere.  She  had  caught  the  spirit  which  rules  our 
own  diplomacy,  called  the  diplomacy  of  the  shirt-sleeves,  the  diplom- 
acy of  honesty,  the  diplomacy  which  means  what  it  says.  It  is 
within  my  personal  knowledge  that  after  long  consideration  the 


11 


statesmen  of  Japan  took  their  ground  and  from  it  they  never  moved. 
They  made  their  demand  upon  Russia,  and  they  refused  to  modify  it 
They  knew  what  they  wanted,  what  they  were  justly  entitled  to,  and 
never  for  a moment  did  they  think  of  taking  less.  I know,  too,  that 
Russia  did  not  expect  war.  Russian  diplomacy,  no  matter  how 
admirable  may  be  Russian  individual  character,  is  the  diplomacy  of 
deceit,  of  insincerity,  of  tricks,  of  indirections.  It  is  an  axiom  in  the 
foreign  affairs  offices  of  many  governments  that  a Russian  diploma- 
tist never  means  what  he  says.  As  an  eminent  diplomatist  one  said 
to  me : “When  I meet  the  Russian  ambassador  I do  not  cudgel  my 
brain  with  the  question  whether  or  not  he  is  lying.  I know  he  is 
lying.  My  only  curiosity  is  as  to  just  why  and  for  what  purpose  he 
is  telling  that  particular  lie.  It  is  a sad,  a pathetic  fact,  but  still  a 
fact,  that  for  this  habit  of  insincerity  in  dealings  with  other  powers 
Russia  is  now  paying  a terrible  price.  At  St.  Petersburg  they  did  not 
believe  Japan  was  in  earnest.  They  knew  they  themselves  were  not, 
and  it  was  past  their  belief  that  Japan  could  be.  They  knew  they 
were  making  demands  from  which  they  intended  in  good  time  to 
recede,  and  they  supposed  as  a matter  of  course  Japan  was  in  the 
same  attitude.  To  them  diplomacy,  even  the  diplomacy  which 
involves  the  dread  issue  of  war  or  peace,  is  a game  to  be  played  with 
finesse  and  bluff  and  trick  and  mask,  like  horse-trading  or  poker. 
They  were  constitutionally  unable  to  conceive  of  a diplomacy  which 
Avas  something  else,  which  was  sincere,  which  was  honest,  and  which 
meant  to  stick  to  its  first  declared  irreducible  minimum  and  to  fight 
for  it  if  necessary.  In  short,  Russia  was  the  victim  of  her  own 
national  fault  of  insincerity.  She  thought  the  negotiations  would 
continue  for  months  and  months,  and  would  not  be  terminated  till  she 
had  had  several  opportunities  to  jockey  with  modifications,  pro- 
posals and  counter  proposals.  Suddenly,  like  a bolt  of  lightening  out 
of  a sky  only  cloudy  but  seemingly  not  pregnant  with  disaster,  came 
— war. 

And  Japan  was  ready.  Russia  was  not.  As  the  first  lesson  is 
to  arm  yourself  with  the  right,  and  the  second  is  to  be  sincere  and  to 
give  your  adversary  credit  for  equal  sincerity,  that  you  may  not 
deceive  and  victimize  yourself  in  trying  to  deceive  and  victimize 
others,  so  the  third  lesson  is  preparation  for  the  struggle  that  may 
come.  Be  ready,  be  prepared,  be  sure.  Today  the  world  is  amazed 
at  Japan’s  success.  It  is  a success  due  more  to  adequate  and  thorough 
preparation  than  to  anything  else.  It  is  the  success  which  comes 
always  to  him  who  is  thorough,  who  is  efficient,  who  is  zealous,  who 
is  careful,  who  is  master  of  himself  and  strives  with  might  and  main 
to  make  himself  master  of  the  situation.  Again,  autocracies  and 
oligarchies,  remnants  of  the  middle  ages,  breed  inefficiency,  careless- 
ness, lack  of  that  individual  striving  and  devotion  to  duty — especially 
public  duty,  duty  to  the  state,  duty  to  society — which  is  the  dis- 
tinguishing mark  and  the  glory  of  republics  and  of  all  free  people 
who  are  their  own  masters.  As  personal  and  collective  efficiency  in 
Japan  have  been  leaping  forward,  in  Russia  there  has  been  retro- 


12 


gression.  One  is  a nation  of  patriotic  individualism,  of  preferment 
through  merit  alone ; the  other  is  afflicted  with  a bureauocracy  redo- 
lent of  favoritism,  indifference  and  incompetency.  A few  years  ago 
I went  to  Philadelphia  to  witness  the  launching  of  a Japanese  war- 
ship. “She  is  a good  ship,”  said  one  of  the  builders.  “If  she  wasn’t 
the  Japanese  would  not  accept  her.  They  have  had  a dozen  of  their 
naval  officers  here  during  the  whole  period  of  construction,  and  those 
little  Japs  have  almost  slept  in  the  yards.  They  have  watchea  every 
piece  of  steel,  every  bolt  and  nut,  that  has  gone  into  her  as  if  their 
lives  depended  upon  its  being  just  right.” 

“And  how  about  the  Russians?  You  are  building  a ship  for 
them,  too.” 

“Oh,  the  Russians  are  easy,”  was  the  reply.  “They  loaf  about 
the  clubs,  drinking  and  smoking,  and  do  not  bother  us  at  all.” 

The  best  of  it  all  is  that  the  greatest  triumphs  to  be  won  in  the 
world  today  are  the  triumphs  of  duty,  of  unselfishness,  of  meeting 
the  responsibility  of  the  strong  for  the  welfare  of  the  weak.  Con- 
trast America  in  the  Philippines  with  Russia  in  Poland.  Compare 
the  Czar  of  Russia  with  William  McKinley.  We  have  lived  to  see 
the  day  when  oppression  through  force  is  almost  gone  from  civiliza- 
tion. And  the  next  task  before  the  world  is  to  see  to  it  that  oppres- 
sion through  wealth  is  also  disposed  of  and  relegated  to  the  middle 
ages.  Thank  heaven,  we  are  approaching  the  day  when  the  accumu- 
lation of  a great  fortune  is  not  success,  when  the  discoverer  of  diph- 
theria anti-toxin  is  far  more  honored  than  a Rockefeller,  when  the 
humble  American  army  officer  who  learned  how  to  suppress  yellow 
fever  by  destroying  mosquitoes  leaves  behind  him  a greater  name 
than  a Gould  or  a Vanderbilt.  Dr.  Johnson  once  said  that  wealth 
was  of  small  account  because  it  shut  out  but  one  of  the  ills  of  the 
world — poverty — and  usually  brought  many  others  in  its  train.  We 
are  fast  coming  to  the  days  when  wealth  alone  is  nothing  but  a bur- 
den ; and  I hope  to  live  to  see  a world  opinion  which  will  regard  the 
greedy  pursuit  of  a vast  fortune  as  despicable  as  gluttony. 

It  is  sometimes  said  there  are  nowadays  few  or  no  opportunities 
for  young  men  and  women.  Why,  my  friends,  this  is  the  golden  age 
of  opportunity — the  age  of  individualism,  of  merit  and  of  efficiency. 
Probably  there  never  was  a time  in  the  history  of  the  world  when 
man  counted  for  so  much  and  birth,  rank  or  fortune  for  so  little ; 
when  there  were  so  many  openings  for  men  and  women  of  forceful- 
ness, of  originality,  in  science,  invention,  business,  engineering, 
literature,  public  life.  The  trust  has  not  suppressed  the  man.  Wj 
hear  much  of  the  trusts  destroying  opportunity.  But  only  a few  days 
ago  the  manager  of  perhaps  the  greatest  trust  in  the  world  told  me 
their  constant  fear  was  that  the  dry  rot  of  personal  indifference  and 
lack  of  zeal  would  in  the  end  work  the  ruin  of  that  great  corporation. 
That  is  the  thing  they  have  constantly  to  guard  against — the  compe- 
tition of  the  smaller  concern  managed  by  men  who  own  it  and  who 
are  therefore  more  efficient  in  its  conduct.  The  great  trusts  may 
mass  millions  of  money,  but  it  will  all  go  for  naught  in  the  end  with- 


13 


out  the  men — men  of  the  first  rank.  And  today  the  cry  in  New  York 
and  Chicago  and  elsewhere  is  for  men  of  the  first  rank.  Five  hun- 
dred dollar  men  are  to  be  had  in  droves.  Five  thousand  dollar  men 
are  scarce.  Ten  thousand  dollar  men  rarer  still. 

Do  not  fear  lack  of  opportunity.  There  is  opportunity  in  trans- 
portation, where  Americans  have  already  eclipsed  all  the  world, 
carrying  both  freight  and  passengers  cheaper  than  any  other  country, 
and  constantly  struggling  for  the  means  to  carry  them  still  cheaper. 

There  is  opportunity  in  the  carrying  of  the  teeming  millions  of 
our  great  cities,  where  the  problem  of  congestion  and  of  inadequate 
facilities  constantly  calls  for  solution,  where  a thousand  pounds  of 
dead  weight  of  train  has  to  be  carried  for  every  passenger  trans- 
ported, and  where  the  reward  of  success  is  offered  him  who  will  find 
the  means  to  decrease  this  dead  drag,  increase  capacity  and  enhance 
speed. 

There  is  opportunity  in  spreading  electrical  traction  and  electri- 
cal manipulation  to  all  the  countries  of  the  world.  Vast  areas  in 
Africa,  in  Asia,  in  South  America,  in  the  Philippines  and  elsewhere, 
lie  fallow  for  the  harvest  of  progress,  the  harvest  of  modernity, 
which  means  machinery,  mechanics,  transportation,  commerce,  and 
all  the  wide  range  of  development  of  which  primitive  regions  are 
capable.  The  young  Americans  of  the  near  future  will  roam  the 
earth  in  search  of  opportunities — and  they  will  find  them. 

Here  at  home  opportunity  is  by  no  means  exhausted.  The  world 
needs  better  lawyers,  better  doctors,  better  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
better  educators,  tetter  business  men,  better  engineers,  better  journal- 
ists. Progress  and  change  are  not  at  an  end.  I think  I see  the  com- 
ing of  the  day  when  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Americans  will  find 
employment  in  the  creation  of  a complete  system  of  good  roads 
extending  to  almost  every  county  and  township  in  this  vast  land. 
Y ea,  more,  I believe  my  eyes  foresee  the  creation  of  a mighty  system 
of  automobile  public  conveyances,  running  over  these  roads  on  reg- 
ular schedules,  and  carrying  the  blessings  of  communication  and 
cheap  and  frequent  transportation  to  millions  of  farms,  as  steam  rail- 
roads have  carried  them  to  cities  and  towns.  I see  motor  driven 
machinery  and  implements  applied  to  farm  work.  I see  such  a 
development  of  country  communications  as  will  centralize  education, 
vastly  extending  the  good  work  in  that  direction  already  begun, 
replacing  the  seven-by-nine  roadside  schoolhouses  with  centers  of 
learning  fully  equipped  and  attended  by  pupils  from  townships  or 
even  larger  areas  instead  of  from  mere  districts.  I see  the  spread  of 
knowledge  and  of  interest  in  the  world’s  affairs  almost  indefinitely 
widening  the  demand  for  good  books,  good  magazines,  good  news- 
papers, good  writers.  I see  science  making  as  rapid  strides  in  the 
future  as  in  the  past.  I see,  in  a word,  a world  becoming  more  com- 
plex, more  highly  specialized,  more  luxurious,  with  a higher  stand- 
ard of  comfort  more  widely  diffused,  and  every  step  forward  demand- 
ing men,  men,  women,  women — men  and  women  educated,  fit,  pre- 
pared, efficient,  to  do  the  world’s  work. 


14 


There  is  opportunity  in  public  life,  in  politics.  I know  some- 
thing of  politics  and  of  politicians  and  of  the  men  who  hold  our  pub- 
lic offices.  And  to  you  who  stand  before  me  today  I wish  to  say  with 
all  the  emphasis  of  which  our  good  mother  tongue  and  my  voice  ai*e 
capable — there  is  opportunity  in  politics.  You  are  needed  in  politics. 
Men  of  education  and  character  are  wanted  in  our  statesmanship  and 
our  public  duties.  Do  not  let  the  ignorant  and  the  corrupt  monopo- 
lize those  fields.  Crowd  them  out.  Do  not  make  the  mistake  of  sup- 
posing that  politics  is  a game  unworthy  of  you,  that  you  are  in  dan- 
ger of  being  degraded  or  tarnished  if  you  attempt  to  play  it.  I am 
proud  to  say  that  politics  of  the  better  sort  in  our  country  is  a game  of 
earnestness  and  decency,  of  good  faith,  of  standing  loyally  by  your 
friends  as  they  stand  by  you.  Politics  develops  manhood ; it  devel- 
opes  courage.  It  developes  usefulness.  I urge  the  university  and 
college  men  of  our  country  to  go  into  politics — go  in  with  all  your 
force  and  strength.  Go  into  the  primaries  in  wards  and  townships ; 
crowd  out  the  unworthies ; do  not  fear  but  water  will  find  its  level 
there  as  well  as  elsewhere,  that  the  law  of  the  exclusion  of  the  inferior 
by  the  superior  will  work  for  you  there  as  everywhere  in  this  world’s 
activities.  Begin  at  the  bottom  and  work  your  way  to  the  top. 
Start  as  an  assessor,  or  road-master,  if  needs  be,  and  let  the  seat  in 
the  legislature,  in  congress,  the  governorship,  the  higher  honors, 
come  after  you  have  deserved  them.  They  will  come  if  you  deserve 
them  ; and  such  men  as  you,  men  with  trained  minds  and  bodies  and 
characters  are  needed  in  all  the  high  places  in  our  political  system  to 
displace  a lot  of  the  ignorant,  the  stupid,  the  inefficient,  the  non-pro- 
gressive now  to  be  found  there. 

You  have  great  advantages  over  many  of  your  fellows.  You 
have  education.  But  do  not  make  the  mistake  of  thinking  that 
alone  is  success.  It  is  only  a part  of  your  equipment.  Your  educa- 
tion has  strengthened  your  sinews  for  the  race ; how  you  run  it  is  for 
you  to  determine.  Your  education  has  placed  certain  totals  and 
instrumentalities  in  your  hands ; it  is  for  you  to  use  them  effectively. 
Here  you  have  been  taught  what  has  been  accomplished  in  the  great 
world ; it  is  for  you  to  go  out  into  that  world  and  accomplish  some- 
thing on  your  own  account. 

I promised  not  to  preach  to  you.  But  I cannot  refrain  from  this 
one  word : remember  that  your  education  here  is  after  all  only  a 
means  of  teaching  you  how  to  go  on  educating  yourselves  to  the  end 
of  your  time.  Do  not  be  afraid  to  work,  to  work,  to  work.  My 
friends,  there  are  only  two  joys  in  this  world — work  and  love — love 
and  work — and  they  go  hand-in-hand.  Do  not  be  afraid  to  think, 
think  hard,  think  all  the  time.  Newton  was  asked  how  he  had  dis- 
covered the  law  of  gravity,  he  replied:  “By  incessantly  thinking 
about  it.” 


15 


3 0112  105657586 


N 


